Share your experience!
I am losing my patience with Sony.
I bought my 4K TV back in late 2016 from Argos, as I usually switch TV's every 10 years. I previously had another Sony set and it lasted me for almost years so I thought I would give them a try.
Now, a year after buying my family TV (late 2017) the TV started showing signs of small black clouding patches. I contacted Sony, and seeing as I was within my warranty period, my local repair guys (Sony approved) offered to replace the TV. They sent the guy around to install my new TV and took away the faulty one. I remember the repair guy saying 'we are getting lots of these problems/complaints from people about these blotches'. He installed the TV and went on his merry way. I was very happy since the problem had gone and I could now enjoy content with my family as we love watching films/documentaries. My oldest son plays video games so he was also very ecstatic.
However, fast forward to early 2019, and suddenly I am having these purple blotches start to appear in the left side of the screen. They weren't so bad to begin with but a couple of weeks later, these blotches were starting to spread everywhere. I contacted Sony and they asked me to contact my local repair people. This time I am out of luck as surprise, surprise, I am out of warranty. They asked me to contact Argos directly which I did, and was told that for them to be able to reimburse or replace the TV, I would have to get a a report. This was the email:
As mentioned before if Argos require a full report which they will submit in reference to our company we would need our engineers to physically inspect the unit for a report to be provided to which there are non-refundable charges. The photos look like it could be but I wouldn’t be able to give you a report on headed paper without our engineers having physically checked it.
Many Thanks
Niki Forrest
I was told this would cost me around £120 as they are based in Oxford but I live in Reading so it meant dispatching a person to come to inspect it. Now, I am not rich nor very poor but I have two young children. I suffer from Lupus so I am constant agony, and all I wanted was a TV that works. The blotches have worsened to the point where I can no longer enjoy content as half of the screen is blue and the other half is starting to develop blotches. I cannot afford to waste £120.00 down the drain for them to end up telling me its not a manufacturing fault so I am at a loss. I cannot afford another TV.
I am appealing to Sony to help me here somehow as I am at my wits end. I have done nothing but care for this TV cleaning as I was supposed to. I always had faith in Sony products and I am hopeful something can be done. Many other people, even non-Sony TV owners have started complaining of these purple/blue blotches appearing randomly so I cannot accept that its a minor issue. This is a major issue and there are many threads all over the internet with people not quite believing they only bought their TV a couple of years ago for this. I do not think this is a coincedence and am going to contact every consumer watch dog out there in the UK to tell them of this issue.
The fact that an ill man with children has to put up with this issue and everybody turning me down makes me feel sad that I once trusted this company. The least Sony can do is give us all documentation to take to where we bought our TV's from in order to get a replacement. Please help me
I would also like to add a post to inform anyone here with screen issues and urge you to contact the people below:
Unfortunately this is a user community so you are unlikely to get a direct response from Sony. You can try contacting Sony support but, with the age of the TV they are very unlikely to replace it for free for you.
I feel your pain. I bought my 55 inch 4K TV back in 2016. Around two months ago (after a software patch) I started seeing those blue/purple patches. At first they were just 2, in a week another one appeared. Since it is out of warranty and I did not buy an extended one, I had to fix it on my expense. I asked in a Sony service - they did not want to fix it, even though I will pay them. Then I send it to a local TV service and he told be he will replace the backlight LEDs. I've been waiting ever since, because he has to order backlight LEDs strips from China, since there are no spare parts anywhere in europe. It's been almost 2 months since then - no word yet from the service.
@d10a7k56m5e92e55 wrote:I feel your pain. I bought my 55 inch 4K TV back in 2016. Around two months ago (after a software patch) I started seeing those blue/purple patches. At first they were just 2, in a week another one appeared. Since it is out of warranty and I did not buy an extended one, I had to fix it on my expense. I asked in a Sony service - they did not want to fix it, even though I will pay them. Then I send it to a local TV service and he told be he will replace the backlight LEDs. I've been waiting ever since, because he has to order backlight LEDs strips from China, since there are no spare parts anywhere in europe. It's been almost 2 months since then - no word yet from the service.
Thank you. I have been noticing that many people, not just with Sony sets, are also experiencing similar issues with these purple blotches. I do not think that this is a coincedence, more likely cuts in order to sell these televisions at cheaper prices. It is rather offensive that Sony does not recognise this as a manufacturing issue, so I have gone and contacted BBC Watch Dogs directly. I have given them some details and am in the process of compiling data in order to shed some light into this problem. I believe this is nothing short of a scam as I believe that Sony or other companies knew about these problems right from the start. I believe we will see a sharp rise of complaints due to these screen problems from now and the pressure will surely start mounting.
I mean come on, look at my TV, do you think this is acceptable?
I took this picture in a low light environment using my Iphone XR to show how bad it can really look. Sony should be ashamed.
Hi nalfy87,
I can only imagine how you feel. Could you let me know what's the model of the TV?
Cheers,
The_Black_Rose
It's a Sony Bravia 49XD7005 model (UK). Its a 4K set which cost me around £650.00 from Argos back in late 2016.
I am actually in the process of investaging whether software updates might have had something to do with the problem, as I know of other people who have updated their firmware in 2019 only to be met with this issue. Whatever the case, these purple/blue smudges and blotches are not going away.
Hi nalfy87,
Updating the software sounds like a good idea. I've noticed this article on the Sony website: http://bit.ly/2F7FrNW have you tried doing any of the steps mentioned in it?
Cheers,
The_Black_Rose